The Riddle Of Truth
by Witchy Emma
Summary: When Emily Williams, the daughter of Sarah Williams the only person to defeat Goblin King Jareth's Labyrinth, accidently wishes her baby sister away chaos is likely to follow. Meanwhile, Jareth has his eyes set on a bastard child...
1. Prologue

Authors Notes: I don't feel like repeating myself over and over, so the following will be seen only once as it should be pretty damn obvious.  
**Disclaimer: Characters from the original Labyrinth cast do not belong to me. I am simply borrowing them in order to create a work of fiction. Original characters (such as Emily) are mine and are not to be used without my permission.**

**------------------------------------**

**Prologue**

The story of the Labyrinth was one she grew up with. She loved it, treasured it and never, ever forgot it. As a small child she would often request a hearing of it before going to bed but as she grew older the less and less wise she became. She began to view the Labyrinth not as a humble part of our reality – but as a lie. A myth. A child's fairy tale. Whatever she saw it as – it wasn't _real_.

The Labyrinth simply wasn't real.

Very few can ever say that the Goblin King was wrong. When they did they usually took a swim in the Bog of Eternal Stench, pushed in by His Majesty himself. But that doesn't mean His Majesty hasn't known himself to be wrong – and one day he made a terrible miscalculation but he found the correction with a child. A bastard child born out of holy wedlock. A simple, human child. A girl. But as soon as he saw that child being lovingly rocked it its mother's arms – he knew. It had to be his. He wanted it.

And he got whatever he wanted.


	2. Chapter One  The Beginning

**Chapter One**  
_The Beginning_

* * *

On Earth it was the sweet year 2007 Emily Williams was _desperately_ late.  
"Oh shit… Oh shit… Oh _shit_! Mum is _so_ gunna flip!"  
She cut through peoples gardens, leapt over fences – anything and everything that would help her get home just that little bit faster. Had she of known how to operate one, she probably would have stolen the skateboard of the kid who had gotten in her way, but as it was… 

Puffing and panting she charged down the garden path and in her blind panic she nearly broke the door down. It swung open before her after her collision with it and Emily fell through, landing flat on her face in the hall.  
"Emily!"  
Emily's stormy grey eyes rolled up to look at her mother's surprised and angry face.  
"Err… Hi Mum!"  
"You're _two hours_ late!"  
Emily winced slightly.  
"Yeah… well… we lost track of time and Amelia's watch stopped so-"  
"Amelia?! You said you were going to the library!"  
"…I did?" Emily said, grinning sheepishly as she stood.  
"Sarah, Darling, you can discuss this later. We're late enough as it is."

Her mother scowled at Emily, who in turn scowled at the owner of the interrupting voice – her mother's boyfriend, Derek.  
"Yes Derek, you're right." Sarah said, looking to Derek then back to Emily. "I just fed Leila and put her down to bed. It's seven now, we'll be back around eleven-thirty – twelve, okay?"  
"Yeah… whatever…." Emily said in an uninterested tone.  
Sarah frowned but before she could say more she was whisked out the door.

Emily watched the door close behind them and turned so sharply her raven black hair hit her in the face. She pounded up the stairs, dashed down the hall and into her room. Calmly she put a CD into her CD player, pressed play and leapt into her bed, where she lay staring at the ceiling.

---

Her eyes fluttered open. She's fallen asleep! She looked around wildly for her lock and soon found it, lying on the floor where it had been knocked over. Its digital numbers read _7:30PM_ and Emily allowed herself a sigh of relief.  
Slowly she realised that she could hear something over the scream of her music – another scream. The scream of a small child that had woken from its slumber.

With a groan of impatience the girl stood, fixing up her sleep-messed clothes and hair. She turned off the music, brining the child's scream into better focus. She flung open the door and raced down the stairs, turning down the corridor and coming to a halt at her little sisters nursery.  
Leila was on her feet, tears rolling down her face, her mouth a gaping hole as she screamed. Emily crossed the room briskly and leant over the side of the cot and heaved Leila up into her arms.

"Shh…" Emily said in an attempt to soothe. "Shh… Big sister's here…."  
But it soon became apparent that it wasn't working and Emily began to grow even more impatient.  
"For fucks sake – shut up, will you?!" Emily shouted into Leila's face, their screams matched in volume.  
But Leila didn't obey.  
"Argh! You really are Derek's kid, you know that?! An annoying, little shit! I bet when you start talking the only thing that will come out of your mouth will be lies,_ lies_ , LIES!"

Leila continued to wail and scream until at last Emily could stand it no more. She walked back to Leila's cot and set her down, covering her with the blanket. She returned to the door and looked back at her wailing sibling, her hand poised on the light switch.  
"You know what, Leila? Sometimes I wish the Labyrinth was real… because I wish the goblins would come and take you away…"  
She flicked the light switch of calmly.  
"Right…. Now…"


	3. Chapter Two  Meeting The King

**Chapter Two  
**_Meeting The King_

* * *

She had closed the door, walked back down the hall and had started to climb the stairs when she realised something was terribly wrong. So back the way she came Emily went, fighting down her 'unnecessary fears'. She opened the door to Leila's room once more and fumbled for the switch.  
"Leila?" She called out into the silence and the dark.  
But she knew, without knowing how she knew, that Leila was not there.  
"Leila, say something!"  
Emily winced at the words as soon as they left her mouth. Leila was too young to talk!  
_Click!  
_Went the light switch but it seemed the bulb had blown for no light other than that from the open window blessed the room. Wait… open window?!

Nervously Emily slipped inside. She felt her skin crawl as sounds of movement and soft mutterings reached her ears. She tried to dismiss them as mere figments of her imagination, but it was almost impossible to do so.  
"Well, well, well." A voice as smooth as glass said behind her, causing her to jump in surprise. "What do we have here?"  
Emily turned around so fast she almost fell over and the owner of the voice had to steady her. When her stormy gave met their mix matched one she froze. He was almost exactly like her mother had described.  
"Y-You can't…!" Emily stammered. "Y-You're not…!"  
"I can't what, my dear?" The Goblin King said casually, an evil little smirk forming on his face.  
"Y-You can't…."  
"Yes? Yes?"  
"You can't be here! You're not real!"

Jareth beamed with delight, as though those were exactly the words he had wanted to hear.  
"Not real you say? Well, how is it I am here in your sisters nursery and the child you wished away is not, if I am not real?"  
"Leila…" Emily whispered before suddenly seeming to find her voice. "Give her back!"  
"Oho- So you suddenly believe in my existence, do you?"  
Emily heard snickering and glanced around the room, finding no course to the sound.  
"Give her back, Goblin King! Leila doesn't belong to you!"  
"Oh, but she does. Don't you remember? You clearly said 'I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now' and we have." Jareth said, smirking at the young human.  
"I… I didn't mean it!" Emily exclaimed as though desperate to have him believe her. "Please… just give her back!"  
"It's too late, my dear girl. What's done is done. Your Leila is now… mine."  
There was more soft snickering and Emily once again glanced around.  
"What do I have to do to get her back?!" Emily demanded.  
"So naïve." Jareth said with a smirk and a shake of his head. "Naïve, just like your mother."  
"My mother?"

In a second Emily found herself standing on a lone hill. She looked out to see an odd maze- no! A labyrinth and in it's center was a castle. She frowned; it couldn't possibly-!  
"Yes." Jareth said, that smirk seeming to be glued upon his face. "This is _my_ labyrinth. My kingdom. If you wish to save your sister you must solve my labyrinth in thirteen hours."  
"I have to solve _that_ in thirteen hours?! That's not enough time! It's not fair!"  
"Not fair?" He repeated, the tone in his voice sending a shiver down Emily's spine. "Not fair?"  
But to her surprise he softly chuckled. Emily watched him, her head tilted slightly in her confusion.  
"Yes my dear, you truly are your mother's daughter. She said the exact same thing when she was too tested against my labyrinth. 'It's not fair'."  
"What do you-?"  
The Goblin King grinned and moves in closer, until he was so close his lips gently brushed against her ear as he whispered,  
"Your mother wished away her brother too, once. He was quite a lively chap as I recall."  
Emily grinned in triumph, remembering how she and Uncle Toby had pretty much grown up together, her uncle being only three years older than she.

"And she saved him." Emily said happily. "She beat your Labyrinth and so will I!"  
Jareth pulled away, a frown upon his face, which disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared. Clearly I had not been the desired reaction.  
"She was the only one to do so. Remember, my dear, thirteen hours."  
"Piece of cake!"  
The smirk returned to Jareth's face.

"We'll see."

* * *

**Authors Notes:** And now, ladies and gentlemen, with all the boring beginning stuff out of the way the real advneture can begin! Thank you for those who have expressed interest in _The Riddle of Truth_ - I'll try to stop being so lazy and get these up regularly. Don't forget to review - constructive critisism is a great motivational tool! 


	4. Chapter Three First Steps

**Chapter Three**

_First Steps_

"Where's the door? I don't get it! _Where_ is the _fucking _door?!"  
Emily's stormy eyes searched along the outer wall of the great Labyrinth – but saw nothing. No door. No ladder. No hole. No rope. No mean of entry whatsoever.  
"You cheat, Jareth!" She shouted at the sky. "You have to at least give me a _chance_! You can't just let me wait here until my time is up! Filthy _cheat_!"  
"Miss Emily?!" A voice exclaimed. "What're _ye_ doin' 'ere?!"  
Emily blinked twice and span around, coming face-to-face with a small, dwarf creature – well, not quite face-to-face as she towered over him.  
"Err?"  
"An' why're ye shoutin' curses to Jareth at the sky? 'E might 'ear ya and it's no' wise t' anger 'Is Majesty."  
"W-Who are you?"  
The dwarf blinked and for a moment Emily thought she had somehow offended him.  
"O' a course!" He said with a grin before she could apologise unnecessarily. "Should-a known ye were too small t' remember me when we met last time."  
Emily didn't know what disturbed her more, the fact that this odd dwarf being was able to recognize her despite when last they'd met she'd been very small –too small to remember him- or that they had met previously at all!  
"Err… yes… but… _who are you_?"  
"I'm Hoggle!"  
"Haggle?"  
A deep frown formed on Hoggle's face. Why did _everyone_ get his name _wrong_?!  
"No. Hoggle."  
"Hoggle?"  
"Yes. Hoggle."  
"Right."  
Emily gave a quick nod and a brief smile then said,  
"Hoggle, do you know how to get inside the Labyrinth."  
"O' 'course I do!"  
"How do I get inside?"  
His frown deepened further still.  
"Why'd ye wanna do that?"

Emily sighed.  
"It's a _long_ story."  
Hoggle echoed her sigh – seeming to catch on.  
"The door is right behind you."  
Emily scowled.  
"Don't be a smart arse! I asked you for your help _nicely_ and you-!"  
"Look behind you." Hoggle insisted, cutting her off.  
Emily turned her head sharply to look over her shoulder, clearly not expecting to see any change but where there had been a plain, stone wall a pair of great, open doors now stood. Emily's jaw dropped and Hoggle snickered to himself.  
"B-But-!"  
"On yer way, Miss Emily. Ye got a big task ahead of ye and no' much time."  
"Err…. Right… thanks, Haggle."  
"Hoggle!"  
"Hoggle." Emily corrected herself. "Sorry."  
"Don' worry 'bout it." He grumbled. "Jus' get goin'!"

Emily went to move then stopped, realizing.  
"Hoggle… You're a friend of my mothers, right? Sarah Williams?"  
"Yep!" Hoggle said, puffing his chest out with pride.  
"Then… maybe you could help me? I need to get to the castle in-"  
"-In the center o' the Labyrinth." Hoggle concluded, apparently deflated.  
"Yes! So… could you? Please?"  
He shook his head sadly.  
"I can't help ye, Miss Emily."  
"Why?!"  
"Cos-a that." He said, pointing down.

Emily looked and found herself gasping seeing Hoggle was chained, quite heavily, to the rock upon which he moved to sit.  
"You poor thing! What happened?! Who did this?!"  
"Jareth did. He said, 'Hogwart, my dear fellow' 'e said. 'Seein' as ye like yer jewelry so much, I has a gift for ye.' An' next I new I was stuck 'ere!"  
"I guess he thought you would try to help me…" Emily sighed.  
"Maybe ye'll make friend o' yer own in the Labyrinth?" Hoggle cheerfully suggested.  
"Maybe…" Emily said wistfully.  
She turned to enter the Labyrinth sadly.  
"O'! Miss Emily!"  
"Yes, Hoggle?"  
"Lemme give ye some advice. One: never take the Labyrinth for granted. All is not what it seems in there."  
"And two?"  
"Two: Never –and I mean never- say 'it's a piece a cake' in there neither."  
Emily frowned. "Why?"  
"'Cos it'll jus' get harder! Now _go_!"  
"Y-Yes!"  
With that she turned and dashed away into the Labyrinth, taking her first steps into Jareth's world.

* * *

**Authors Comments  
**I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post this up. I've been swamped with work and quite recently I've been suffering computer problems as well! Terribly sorry for the wait, but seeing as I don't have many 'avid fans' quite yet, I'm sure it's not _too _big a deal... right? ; Every three chapters I'd like to thank readers for their reviews and etc, so here is the first batch:  
**notwritten - **Thank you for the reviews.  
**Kaline Reine - **Thank you for your reviews, FF Favourite Story, FF Favourite Author and FF Story Alert.  
**PhishRitzy -** Thank you for your FF Favourite Author  
**Erikslittleangel13 -** Thank you for your FF Story Alert  
**Rugsday -** Thank you for your FF Favourite Story, FF Favourite Author, FF Story Alert.  
Hopefully I didn't miss anyone. If I did - sorry! ; I'll make sure to include you next time!


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